California’s war on businesses continues, as state leadership still has not learned any lessons from Tesla headquarters, X headquarters, and Chevron’s departure from the state for Texas.
Presently, California is taking significant steps to reinstate its electric vehicle (EV) rebate program. This initiative comes in response to the potential loss of all the federal tax incentives under the incoming Trump administration, which should help resolve the Biden-created market distortions.
Newsom clearly plans to “Trump-proof” California.
California Gov. Gavin News intends to exclude Tesla from the rebate program in a move that apparently targets Musk as “Enemy Number 2” in the progressives’ war on wrong-thinking Americans.
Tesla may be excluded from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to enact new electric vehicle tax credits if President-elect Donald Trump kills a federal rebate program for EV purchases, according to the governor’s office.Newsom announced plans this week to reintroduce an electric vehicle rebate to replace the $7,500 federal rebate President-Elect Donald Trump has threatened to eliminate. However, under Newsom’s plan, the California rebate would exclude makers like Tesla, California’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer helmed by Newsom’s political antagonist Elon Musk.The governor’s proposal could include a market share cap, and Tesla accounted for more than half of new EVs sold in California in the first three quarters of 2024, according to the California New Car Dealers Assn, the Los Angeles Times reported.
I suspect that the move is Newsom’s play to remain as relevant as he can, in order to sustain any presidential ambitions that he has for 2028. This is a rather hilarious move, as Newsom is happy to take credit for all of Musk’s many successes.
“It’s one of the reasons guys like Elon Musk and others have become so damn successful,’ Newsom said in October. ‘It’s because we’ve set price signals, we’ve created markets, we’ve created opportunities for investments. We’re the number one manufacturer for a reason. We continue to be the envy of the world.”
Musk had a pithy response to the move: “This is insane“.
Musk, whose company is the only one that actually manufactures EVs in the Golden State, clearly felt singled out and slammed Newsom’s proposal. ‘Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,’ he wrote on X. A Musk fan posted a video to the social media site showing Newsom actually gloating about being responsible for Musk and Tesla’s riches.
One analyst likened the developments to a “Game of Thrones” episode.
Dan Ives, senior analyst at Wedbush, said Newsom’s proposal could set off a “Game of Thrones battle” between the Democratic governor and Musk, the world’s richest person.“This is clearly a political move of Newsom and California towards Musk which now has a front seat to the Trump White House and will be a key player in ultimately getting these federal tax credits wiped away among a myriad of other things on the federal front,” Ives said.The Wedbush analyst said Newsom’s proposal runs the risk of Musk deciding to move more jobs from Tesla’s Fremont, Calif., plant to its Austin, Texas, Gigafactory.
Now, I would like all the subsidies to end…even for Tesla. However, targeting an individual company and its owner is not a good look for a person who aspires to be the leader for all Americans.
Furthermore, it runs the risk of Tesla manufacturing to a friendlier state. Tesla is one of the largest employers in Fremont, with a staff of over 20,000. Those people fund the businesses, the schools, and the state of California.
The loss of tax dollars from all the other firms leaving the state means California is currently facing a significant budget deficit. The Legislative Analyst’s Office projects a $68 billion deficit for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
A governor targeting one of the most popular entrepreneurs in the country and hurting his citizens to do so is unappealing to Americans in today’s environment. It will be even less appealing in 2028.
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